PERRIS: Good Samaritan uses Craigslist to help locals

John Harris, a Perris resident, decided to brighten up the holiday spirits of two underprivileged local families by buying presents for their kids. The only problem was that he didn’t know how to find them.

So he put an ad on Craigslist offering his help to whoever needed it.

Luckily for one Lake Elsinore family, a neighbor was surfing the Internet after Harris posted his ad.

“I saw it on Craigslist and Reyna immediately sprung to mind,” said Shanna Kent.

She has a neighbor, Reyna Marine, who has been struggling with money. She’s a 25-year-old mother of three whose husband works as a deliveryman for a nursery.

“She’s been having a really tough time this year. They couldn’t even put one present under the tree,” Kent said.

The neighbors met when Kent moved to California. Marine was the first person to come over and offer to help with the move. “I could not think of anybody more deserving (of help) than her,” Kent said.

So she responded to Harris’ ad, and he took the children’s Christmas lists and bought them gifts.

Harris’ idea to help families came after he finished shopping for his own children, he said.

“It just hit me, I bet there are kids out there that aren’t getting anything,” he said.

He decided he could afford to buy some gifts for two other families’ children, but he needed to figure out a way to reach them. “Craigslist came to mind,” he said.

Craigslist is a website that allows users to publish classified ads. He occasionally browses the site looking for deals on used goods he would ordinarily buy new. He figured local needy families might be doing the same.

“I was mostly afraid people will think it’s a scam,” he said. “I got a lot of positive responses.”

One of the people who responded was Javier Gimeno of Perris. He is out of work, his unemployment checks ran out months ago, his wife is a student who does not work and they cannot get food stamps or cash aid, he said.

“Getting through the year has been rough, if you know what I mean,” he said.

Harris gave them grocery money and gifts for the children, such as a gift card to a local bookstore. “My older son (is) using his Barnes & Noble gift card to buy books for school,” Gimeno said.

The Gimenos reciprocated by giving a candle and a plant they grew in their backyard.

Harris’ kindness saved Christmas for the family, Gimeno said. “They brightened our day and gave us hope,” he said via email. “We… will do the same when we can to others less unfortunate than us.”